ABSTRACT
Three of the school variables- curriculum coverage, teacher expectations and "pleasure to teach"- were associated with progress in maths. The vocabulary test at nursery was not related to maths progress, but sex was. Children with the highest mean curriculum coverage score over the three years would have a maths score at the end of top infants which would be, on average, 0.9 SD units higher than the mean maths score for children with the lowest mean curriculum coverage score. Boys and girls with the same initial maths score, the same teacher expectation rating and the same mean curriculum coverage score would differ, on average, by 0.3 SD units on the maths test at the end of top infants. The variation in children's rates of progress during their time at infant schools is more strongly influenced by aspects of the school and the classroom than it is by characteristics of the children's homes and their parents.
